Characters of Shakespeare's Plays


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(3 stars; 2 reviews)

This famous Shakespearean exploration illuminates its plays through the frame of character, while also weighing theme, mood, structure and poetics. In it, 19th-century critic William Hazlitt unveils Shakespeare's genius in creating and infusing characters with a life-likeness that often challenges, if not overshadows, more material human nature -- in both inner and outer worlds. As he writes: "The characters breathe, move, and live, ... think and speak and act just as they might do, if left entirely to themselves." The first printing sold out in weeks, and the second sold briskly, until a harsh and antagonistic appraisal in The Quarterly Review quelled sales altogether -- and unraveled Hazlitt's critical cachet in the eyes of the general public. Not until the mid-twentieth century were Hazlitt and his works re-evaluated, when he was finally recognized as one of Shakespeare's foremost critics of all time. In literary criticism, the renowned Harold Bloom ranks Hazlitt second only to Dr. Johnson. - Summary by Nemo (10 hr 15 min)

Chapters

Introduction 31:26 Read by Nemo
Preface 27:15 Read by Nemo
Cymbeline 19:01 Read by Eva Davis
Macbeth 28:03 Read by Eva Davis
Julius Caesar 15:10 Read by Nemo
Othello 32:07 Read by Eva Davis
Timon of Athens 10:53 Read by Eva Davis
Coriolanus 26:02 Read by Eva Davis
Troilus and Cressida 17:12 Read by Eva Davis
Antony and Cleopatra 11:23 Read by Eva Davis
Hamlet 18:42 Read by Eva Davis
The Tempest 17:25 Read by Eva Davis
The Midsummer Night's Dream 13:34 Read by Eva Davis
Romeo and Juliet 30:34 Read by Eva Davis
Lear 47:02 Read by Eva Davis
Richard II 17:39 Read by Nemo
Henry IV in Two Parts 27:25 Read by Eva Davis
Henry V 20:34 Read by Nemo
Henry VI in Three Parts 17:35 Read by Nemo
Richard III 16:26 Read by Nemo
Henry VIII 9:38 Read by Nemo
King John 22:05 Read by Eva Davis
Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will 14:32 Read by Eva Davis
The Two Gentlemen of Verona 5:04 Read by Eva Davis
The Merchant of Venice 14:20 Read by Nemo
The Winter's Tale 13:04 Read by Eva Davis
All's Well That Ends Well 8:08 Read by Eva Davis
Love's Labour's Lost 7:00 Read by Eva Davis
Much Ado About Nothing 9:27 Read by Eva Davis
As You Like It 8:50 Read by Eva Davis
The Taming of the Shrew 11:28 Read by Eva Davis
Measure for Measure 10:41 Read by Eva Davis
The Merry Wives of Windsor 4:54 Read by Eva Davis
The Comedy of Errors 5:13 Read by Eva Davis
Doubtful Plays of Shakespeare 15:10 Read by Eva Davis
Poems and Sonnets 10:38 Read by Eva Davis